The Mad Dog Inspector of the Martial Alliance

Chapter 82 : An Old Story (2)

"The world at that time was truly a chaotic era."

After the fall of the Tang Dynasty, those who proclaimed themselves emperors emerged one after another from all over the world.

A country is born after one night's sleep. A country disappears after one night's sleep.

When the sun rises, a person who calls himself an emperor appears. When the sun sets, the person called an emperor dies.

"It is said that there was even a song like this."

Zhu, Li, Shi, Liu, Guo

Later Liang, Later Tang, Later Jin, Later Han, Later Zhou.

A total of fifteen emperors

Unfurled a chaotic fifty years

"This was called the era of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, and the world was split into fifteen pieces. All the people of the world were just waiting for this chaos to end."

In such an era, two men were playing a game of Go for a bet.

One was a Daoist named Chen Tuan, and the other was a wandering idler.

"Chen Tuan said, 'Look here. In my eyes, you are a great tree that can rule the world. You can surely become an emperor.' But the man sitting across the Go board shook his head and said, 'What emperor am I in my capacity? I am an ordinary idler. Really, what a silly-talking, long-nosed Daoist.' and expressed his disgust."

"That's only natural. Even if it's a chaotic era, if just anyone steps up to become an emperor, would the people around them just stand by?"

How many cases would there be where one would be happy to hear such a thing suddenly in an era of war? On the contrary, there was also a possibility of being harmed. It was only natural that the man was disgusted.

'Is that so? Then let's make a bet with me. If you win at Go, I will give you this expensive pearl necklace.'

The pearl necklace, with its plump and large pearls, was no ordinary expensive item. Greed crept into the man's heart.

But the man was a suspicious person.

'No, then what do I have to give if I lose? I do not have any expensive trinkets to bet.'

'If you lose, you will have to make a promise with me.'

Of course. There was some other ulterior motive.

The man, not hiding his wariness, said in a sharp tone.

'Well, let's hear it. What kind of promise do you want?'

'After losing the game of Go, if you become an emperor, you will have to take responsibility for the safety of our Daoist people.'

"It was getting more and more ridiculous. This crazy Daoist seemed to think that the man would truly become an emperor. But if you think about it, it was not a bad story for the man. Weren't the conditions too favorable in the first place? Even if he lost the game of Go, there was nothing to give right away, and if he became an emperor, he would have to pay the price? Isn't this a bet for free?

If he won, a pearl necklace. Even if he lost, it was a good bet with no price unless he became an emperor.

Gumen Long stroked his beard.

"It's so good that it's rather suspicious."

"That's right. It's very suspicious. So he was about to take a step back, but Chen Tuan grinned and said, 'You still won't do it? I'm starting to doubt if you even have a proper manhood.' It was a statement that made him flare up in anger. The man, thinking 'I don't know, whatever,' said, 'Alright. Let's play a game!' and started the game of Go."

"The man must have lost. Since his heart was so shaken, he couldn't have won."

"You are right. The man, who had fallen for the stratagem of goading, lost the game of Go. But he won in life. The man, who went down the mountain and entered the military, displayed a military talent he didn't know he had and rose through the ranks. And as time passed, it became just as Chen Tuan had said."

"Heo-! Does that mean that man was Emperor Taizu Zhao Kuangyin?"

Emperor Taizu Zhao Kuangyin. The founding emperor of the Song Dynasty.

Gumen Long burst into a wide smile. Although he had heard the story of the game of Go for the first time, it was because he knew of Emperor Taizu Zhao Kuangyin of the Song Dynasty.

"But this is the first time I've heard that Zhao Kuangyin played a game of Go with a Daoist."

"This is just an unofficial history passed down among the common people. I only remember it because it's also a story related to a certain tax law."

"Hmm. It was an unofficial history. But a tax law, where was there a story about a tax law here?"

"The story continues a little more. Chen Tuan, upon hearing the news that Zhao Kuangyin had become an emperor, jumped up and down with joy, and he was so happy that he was about to fall off the horse he was riding."

The game of Go between Zhao Kuangyin and Chen Tuan. Now it was time to keep the promise made then.

Chen Tuan dressed neatly and had an audience with the emperor. 'What's to come has come,' the emperor, who saw his appearance, smiled and asked.

'I thought you were a long-nosed Daoist. I didn't recognize an immortal. Then what on earth is our immortal going to receive from me?'

'As I said then, Your Majesty will now have to take responsibility for our Daoism.'

He was like a good storyteller in the marketplace.

Gumen Long listened to Jang So-gil's story and filled his empty teacup.

"Responsibility. Isn't that a very vague word?"

"It's vague, very vague. Is he asking to be protected with military force, or is he asking for an official position?"

"Zhao Kuangyin recalled the time when they had played the game of Go. And he noticed Chen Tuan's true intention. The condition that Chen Tuan had bet then was a pearl necklace. That's right, it was wealth. This long-nosed Daoist wanted wealth."

Would it be enough to bestow a huge amount of gold and silver treasures?

No. With a temporary wealth, one could only obtain temporary stability, and could not take responsibility for the future.

Zhao Kuangyin, after much thought, said.

'How about I grant a tax exemption privilege to Daoism from now on?'

It was a truly unconventional story. But that was the right answer.

Chen Tuan replied by prostrating himself.

'That is what I truly desired. Your Majesty's grace is boundless.'

"The Emperor Taizu issued an imperial edict that the Daoists near Mount Hua, where they had played the game of Go, would not have to pay taxes from now on. Hearing this imperial edict, would the other Daoists just stand by? They rushed to gather nearby and established sects. That is the beginning of the current Daoist sects of the Western Great Mountain."

It was a convincing story. If one were to establish a sect, it would be better to start at the Western Great Mountain, which had a tax exemption clause, than elsewhere.

It was also understandable that there were no Buddhist sects. If the Daoists were flocking to fill the entire Western Great Mountain with Daoist sects with tax exemption privileges, it would be difficult to maintain the foundation of Buddhism, both economically and ideologically. They would have chosen to move to another region.

Jang So-gil, who had finished his long story, moistened his dry lips with tea and added.

"It's an interesting but actually a foolish story. Think about it. Can you even guess how many tens of thousands of silver taels were exchanged in one game of Go? What's ten thousand? A hundred thousand, a million, no one knows where it will go."

"That's true. If all those many Daoist sects of the Western Great Mountain don't pay taxes... Huh? Wait a minute."

Gumen Long suddenly came to his senses.

"Didn't you say this was an unofficial history?"

"Yes. It's an unofficial history. It's one of the stories that explains where the tax exemption privilege that the Daoist sects of the Western Great Mountain have even now originated from."

"No, does such a tax exemption privilege actually exist? And it's been continuing from that time until now?"

"That's how people are, isn't it? If it was something that didn't exist in the first place, it would be one thing, but if you take away what they have, they are bound to have a fit. Even after the Song fell and the Yuan came, this privilege was maintained."

In the early days of a new dynasty, the political situation was unstable anyway. The country did not want to deliberately stir up the martial artists who would be quiet if they were not touched. Wouldn't it be a headache if they went crazy as a group and became assassins?

"Even after the Ming Dynasty came, it was similarly passed over as 'that's how it is'. So even now, the tax exemption privilege is in effect. Implicitly, continuously."

His mouth went dry. Gumen Long took a sip of tea.

Then the reason for this long story, don't tell me?

"You, don't tell me you're thinking of challenging the imperial authority?"

"Of course not. Do you think I'm some kind of mad dog? Even if it's a special case whose origin is unknown, if it has been maintained for hundreds of years, it has already become a custom. A fellow who head-butts a privilege that has been maintained for that long is just a madman."

"Ah. You surprised me."

He was less of a madman than he thought.

"Then the Huashan you're trying to attack is not exactly the Huashan Sect itself."

"Near Huashan, there are a great many fellows who are pulling all sorts of tricks, aiming for the tax exemption clause. I have to beat up these fellows."

Then it wasn't a challenge to the imperial authority, but a just collection.

But it was not an easy task. Gumen Long clicked his tongue.

"Those bastards will hide behind the Huashan Sect as a shield, so it will be a difficult task."

"Even if it's difficult, what can I do? I have no intention of head-butting the Huashan Sect either. Aren't Shaolin, Wudang, and Huashan the pillars of the orthodox sect? If I ram into a pillar, I'll get seriously injured. I'll try to do it well by gently persuading them."

"What if it doesn't go well?"

"Then well, even if it's the Huashan Sect, I'll have to ram it."

Correction. He was a madman after all.

Jang So-gil grinned and put down his empty teacup.

"Now, thank you for listening to my long story until now. Then my work. You'll allow it, right?"

Even if he didn't allow it, he would ram it. What an insolent fellow.

Gumen Long licked his lips and then flicked his finger.

"Return the gold plaque."

"Ehh."

"Take the jade plaque instead."

* * *

"How stingy..."

Jang So-gil, who had returned to his residence, pouted his lips as he changed his clothes.

If he was going to give it, he should have just continued to give the gold plaque, but to think it was just a jade plaque!

The gold plaque and the jade plaque were different in their responsibility and authority. The jade plaque meant that one was on public duty as an inspector of the Martial Alliance, but the gold plaque meant that one was acting on the will of the Alliance Leader.

If he had the gold plaque, he could just ram into things without thinking about the aftermath, so he had wanted the gold plaque.

"Tsk, for a martial artist, he's quick on the uptake."

Since he didn't like it, his expression naturally crumpled.

There was another thing that was worth frowning about.

Go Danyeong examined Yang Gwan and then flicked his cunningly grown mustache.

"It's been smashed coolly. It would have been better if his leg had been broken, but of all places, the knee. Injuries to joints like the knee, elbow, or shoulder are difficult to treat, but it's a very tricky injury where there's no guarantee that it will fully recover its original function even if it heals. Still, this young man has learned the martial arts of Shaolin and has a very hard and sturdy body. Fortunately, he'll be able to avoid a permanent injury. But, still, he'll have to rest for three months."

"See, you bastard! What one month!"

Jang So-gil, who had flared up, was about to punch Yang Gwan's head but then his fist trembled. The common sense that one should not hit a patient and the desire to hit him were in conflict.

Yang Gwan, glancing at him, said to Go Danyeong.

"W-wouldn't it be okay to move slowly and treat it after about a month?"

"If you move recklessly before three months are up and something goes wrong, you'll regret it for the rest of your life. 'If I had listened to Doctor Go then, my bones would have healed well and I wouldn't have this throbbing pain on rainy days, if I had listened well, I wouldn't be walking with a limp, if I had listened well, I wouldn't have sat down and cried like this from the pain while playing ball with my grandson when I got old,' you'll say. And yet you'll still be active? By all means, try it. I know a good undertaker, so I'll contact him."

Ah, a nagging I've heard somewhere before.

Yang Gwan glanced at him and then lowered his head. Then Go Danyeong flicked his mustache again.

"Behave yourself."

"...Understood."

(End of Chapter)